MUSIC & FESTIVALS

Chris Stapleton has landed a top spot on #GalaxysGuide to summer, and we will be featuring him as this week’s must see artist. Stapleton is an all-American singer-songwriter, and guitarist whose music has recently been capturing large bouts of attention.

As of 2001, Stapleton worked tirelessly in Nashville, TN to build a name for himself in the country music business. Eventually gaining enough of a reputation, he was asked to write songs for George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, and more. With his work becoming recognized by prestigious names in the industry, Stapleton finally decided to embark on his first solo journey.

After years of hard work and dedication, Stapleton eventually released his first debut album in 2015 called Traveller, and with little surprise it rapidly climbed the country music charts, and received rave reviews from critics. After being nominated for several Country Music Awards, and Grammys, Stapleton has become a highly sought after performer in just a short period of time.

Currently, with only two solo albums, Stapleton has been wowing the music industry with his rapidly growing success, and reputation. However, despite his fame Stapleton has remained humble, and grateful for the support of his family and friends, and he continues to give back to his hometown community in Paintsville, KY. Performing benefit concerts at his old high school, and even donating $57,000 worth of brand new instruments to the band are just two of the most recent acts of kindness we have seen from Stapleton. ​This country star is gearing up for The All-American Road Show tour, and if you’d like to hear what this artist has to offer, take a listen to one of his most recent chart-topping songs; Broken Halos.

Reunited rockers Guns N’ Roses have expanded their “Not in this Lifetime” tour. See the dates below.

The new dates will see the band returning to many of the cities they hit on their original post-reunion trek, albeit in slightly scaled-down venues. Not to say the shows will be intimate, the band will just be playing arenas instead of stadiums.

In addition to the new fall dates, Guns N’ Roses have also added a date at the War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, to their previously-announced summer run. They will be opening that leg of the tour in St. Louis, the city of the infamous 1991 “Riverport Riot,” where frontman Axl Rose assaulted a fan in the audience for taking pictures and abruptly ended the band’s set.

The band has also announced a variety of opening acts including ZZ Top, Sturgill Simpson, Deftones, Royal Blood, Our Lady Peace and Live for the summer dates. Openers for the newly-released dates have not yet been revealed.

They first found success overseas in 1995. It wasn’t until 1997 when their US debut album hit the shelves. The release peaked at number 4 and has since sold 14 million copies worldwide. In 1999, Millennium was released debuting at number one on the Billboard chart with 1,134,000 copies sold in the week of release and became the best-selling album of the year with over nine million albums sold. Black & Blue was released in 2000 and sold 1.6 million copies in its first week. After years of struggling and then hitting it big in the world of pop music the Backstreet Boys decided it was time for them to leave their management team in 2002. Things got hairy when Nick Carter decided to stay and work on solo projects. In a lawsuit against filed against Zomba Music Group the Backstreet Boys claimed their label promoted Carter’s solo efforts at the expense of the group. The boys would not appear together for almost two years after that.

How did their solo turns go?

Nick Carter – His first solo album, Now or Never reached number 17 on the Billboard chart and was certified gold in both the US and Canada in 2002. It wasn’t until 2011 that Carter would release another solo effort, titled I’m Taking Off. This album failed to have a major impact on the charts but Carter would return with another effort only this time in an odd twist, he released a joint album titled Nick & Knight with fellow boybander and New Kids on the Block member, Jordan Knight. Their album debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200 and in 2015 Carter was back again with All American which was released in 2015 but failed to chart on the Billboard 200.

Brian Littrell – His Christian album Welcome Home, peaked at 74 on the Billboard 200 chart but landed at number three on the Christian Albums chart and his song “Welcome Home (You)” peaked at number one on the Christian Songs chart. Since this release in 2006, Littrell hasn’t released any other solo albums or songs.

AJ McLean – McLean broke free from BSB during the height of their popularity in 2000. He tried to establish an alter ego, “Johnny No Name” to use when not performing with the group. Though no album was ever released Johnny No Name performed as part of the Save the Music campaign for VH1 in 2000. AJ McLean wouldn’t release a solo album until 2010, Have It All failed to chart in the US. Just as recently as 2016, McLean teased new music however no new album has been released.

Howie Dorough – He started the project back in 2002 but kept shelving it to focus on new BSB music. Finally in 2011, Dorough released Back to Me the album was initially released in Japan and then released in the US failing to chart on the Billboard 200.

While it was Kevin who officially left the group to peruse other things, he has yet to release a solo album. Back in 2012 he teased the possibility of releasing an album of covers but as of now that album has not seen the light of day.

None of their solo efforts were anything to write home about, and the boys from the “backstreet” reunited on multiple occasions to release music as a group after their late 90’s/early 2000’s success. In 2005, Never Gone debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 featuring the song “Incomplete” which peaked at number 13.

In 2007 4 out of the 5 members of BSB released Unbreakable which received generally mixed reviews and under-performed on the charts, debuting at number seven and selling less than 500,000 copies in the US as of today. The Backstreet Boys returned again without Kevin for a second album titled This is Us which also under-performed their previous efforts landing at number nine on the Billboard 200.

A full-fledged reunion was had again in 2013 when Kevin rejoined the group to release In a World Like This. With the five guys back this album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. They subsequently toured from 2013 – 2015 and have been flirting with the idea of a residency in Las Vegas. Currently they are testing shows at Planet Hollywood’s Axis Theater.

Verdict? Better together.

Check back next week when he take a look at NKOTB (New Kids on the Block).Miss last week's in-depth look at One Direction? Click Here.

​Born in Germany, and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, J. Cole is an inspirational hip-hop artist, and record producer.

​In 2007, Cole released his first mix-tape titled, The Come Up, which is how he initially gained recognition within the music industry. After signing on to Jay Z’s Roc Nation in 2009, and releasing two more successful mix-tapes, Cole decided to embark on his journey as a solo rapper in 2011. With immense success, and a growing popularity J. Cole landed his first studio album at number one on the Billboard 200, which was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

With Cole’s fourth, and most recent studio album 4 Your Eyez Only also reaching number one on the Billboard 200 chart, it’s safe to say that this influential artist has a strong history of releasing crowd-pleasing tracks.

Not only does Cole produce popular songs of his own, he also produces singles for artists such as Kendrick Lamar, and Janet Jackson; because he is a self-taught pianist, he may as well put this talent to good use!

As if J. Cole’s musical talents weren’t sufficient enough, his voluntary gestures put the icing on the cake, capturing even more attention nationwide. Cole’s upbringing in the urban neighborhood of Fayetteville inspired him to give back to his community, so he started a non-profit organization called the Dreamville Foundation. This program was designed to empower, and educate young children in urban neighborhoods, and teach them that all dreams, whether big or small are attainable.

This awe-worthy rapper has been pleasing crowds since 2007, and his success is only going to grow from here!

Ludacris and Vanessa Hudgens hosted the 2017 Billboard Music Awards live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas last night. The show really could have been named the “Drake Music Awards” as the rapper won 13 awards. He took home the hardware for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Rap Artist, and Top Rap Album, JUST TO NAME A FEW!

The awards were secondary to the amount of performances that were packed into the time slot. Nicki Minaj opened the show with features from Jason Derulo, David Guetta and Lil Wayne. The evening’s big winner, Drake also performed but he took his performance outside to the Bellagio fountains (ala Britney Spears circa 2001). Miley Cyrus continued her more subdued era by performing her new song “Malibu”, “for the first time in years with pants on” as her loving sister Noah pointed out.

Other big winners of the night were The Chainsmokers. They performed “Young” for the first time on TV. Behind the scenes the duo showed love for K-Pop group, BTS with each Twitter accounts posting pictures of the groups hanging out. The Chainsmokers handle cryptically tweeting “See you guys this summer”. Could there be a collaboration in the works? Or is the pair just planning on seeing the group on tour?

In one of the more moving moments of the night, Sean “Diddy” Combs made a surprise appearance to honor the late, Notorious B.I.G. on what would have been the rapper’s 45th birthday. He brought on stage with him, CJ Wallace, Biggie’s son who said “My sister and I carry on his name with tremendous pride, I live my life by his words”. Afterwards, Diddy debuted the trailer for the new documentary Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop which is about the history of Bad Boy Records.

Legends were on hand at this year’s event as both Celine Dion and Cher performed. Dion celebrated the 20th anniversary of Titanic, performing “My Heart Will Go On” and Cher was presented with the Icon Award after singing “Believe” and “If I Could Turn Back Time”. The latter had Cher breaking out an epic, curly haired wig, black leather jacket and fishnets, reminiscent of the 1989 video. During her acceptance speech Cher made a point of saying she just turned 71 and she “can do a 5 minute plank, okay? Just saying”.

All in all, the show was a hefty three hours with performances taking up much of the time and under 10 awards presented during the show. For the full list of winners, Click Here.

Katy Perry has unveiled details of her upcoming forth studio album, Witness, as well as the dates for an accompanying world tour.

Witness will be released June 9th through Capitol Records and will feature the recently-released singles “Chained to the Rhythm” and “Bon Appetit.”

The tour will begin September 7th in Columbus, Ohio and will carry into early 2018, with the final North American performance occurring February 5th in Vancouver. The Witness tour will be Perry’s first string of live dates since the Prismatic World Tour wrapped up in 2015.​After much speculation, ABC confirmed that Perry will serve as a judge in the upcoming American Idol reboot. She will also perform on Saturday Night Live as the season comes to a close on May 20th.

It’s the same old story, start off in a boyband, make millions of girls around the globe swoon and then leave said boyband to make it on your own. Some strike gold (Justin Timberlake) and others try to take on a new identity and confuse everyone around them (AJ McLean). Either way, no matter how much fans would rather the boys turned men stay in the group they love, the grass always looks greener as a solo artist.

Over the next few weeks we are going to examine some of the biggest selling boybands and how those who tried to go solo have faired. At the end we'll decide if the boys are better together or if they are better off staying solo.

This week we’ll throw it back slightly to One Direction. We'll recap the success they had as a group and who from 1D is trying to go solo (and how they're doing).

This is a boyband break up that is still pretty fresh. First the boys lost Zayn to solo stardom and then in 2015 the remaining four announced they were taking an “extended hiatus”. Many 1D fans may not be old enough to know the impact the word “hiatus” can have on you, ‘N sync never officially announced they broke up, they’ve just been on “hiatus” since 2002. Anyway, we’ll get back to them later.​To be fair, Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis and Zayn never actually wanted to be a boyband, they all auditioned for the British version of the singing competition, X Factor as solo artists. Simon Cowell saw something in each of them though it wasn’t solo success, it was boyband success and so the five boys advanced in the “Groups” category. Placing third in the overall competition, the boys then signed on to Cowell’s record label, Syco Records and eventually with Columbia Records in the US.

Their debut album, Up All Night debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, less than a year later, Take Me Home also debuted at number one this time tripling their debut album’s first week sales at a whopping 540,000 copies sold. With Midnight Memories they made history, they became the first group in Billboard 200 history to have their first three albums debut at number one. Their fourth album was appropriately titled Four as it quickly became a prophesying album being the last album they would record with Zayn. Made in the A.M is the first album One Direction released as a quartet.

Prior to the release of Made in the A.M the group announced they were going on “hiatus” with their last televised performance as a group on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve in December 2015.Now that the boys are going in their own directions, three of the five original members have released music as a solo artist. Here’s how the solo efforts are shaking out:

Zayn Malik – He dropped the boys of 1D, dropped his last name and released his first solo effort Mind of Mine featuring “Pillowtalk”. The album debuted at number one on both the UK albums chart and the Billboard 200. Zayn can be heard most recently singing with Taylor Swift on their hit from Fifty Shades Darker, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” which debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

Harry Styles – His first song “Sign of the Times” debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. He has since released “Carolina” but what fans really want to hear is “Two Ghosts” which have many thinking it is about Taylor Swift based on the lyrics that were seen in an Apple Music promo for his upcoming, self-titled album. Styles also announced a slew of tour dates to promote his solo efforts. On May 12th his debut album hit the shelves and as of now it is looking like he’s going to nab the top spot on both the UK and US album charts.

Nail Horan – He released “This Town” in September of 2016, the song peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It wasn’t until this month Horan released his second single “Slow Hands”. His album is still untitled and still without a release date.

Louis Tomilnson – He debuted his first solo single, “Just Hold On” a collaboration with Steve Aoki on the show where it all began, The X Factor. The EDM song peaked at 52 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart but made it all the way up to number 7 on the US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Since the debut of this song in December Tomilnson has been hard at work on his album working with ROZES, and rumored to be working with Bebe Rexha.

Liam Payne – His first efforts as a solo artist won’t be released until tomorrow but while at KIIS-FM’s Wango Tango he teased the crowd by saying Ed Sheeran helped him write the track. It has been confirmed that Payne worked with rap group Migos, stay turned to see how his debut shakes out.

​So far the boys of 1D are seeing success outside of the group, which hinders any hopes of a reunion in the near future.

Verdict? Too soon to tell.

Check back next week as we dive into the solo endeavors of the Backstreet Boys.

This week on Galaxy’s Guide to summer, we are featuring widely accredited heavy metal band, Metallica.

This American group originated in Los Angeles, California, and has a history of ground-breaking performances dating back to 1981. Their popularity has only continued to thrive, and this band will be hitting a stage near you this summer during their Worldwired tour.

Due to the band’s upbeat tempos, hard instrumentals, and aggressive vocals, Metallica has been deemed one of the founding “big four” bands of thrash metal, along with Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

With a total of 10 studio albums, 4 live albums, 39 music videos, and 37 singles, it’s safe to say that Metallica has a strong hand in the music industry.

The band has also received 8 Grammy Awards, while 6 of their albums have debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 charts over the years, which coincides with their title as the most influential thrash metal bands in history. Also ranking as one of the most commercially successful bands of all times, Metallica has sold over 150 million records worldwide.

Consisting of vocalist James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammett, bassist Robert Trujillo, and drummer Lars Ulrich, this dynamic power-team will only continue to captivate audiences with their newest tour, WorldWired kicking off this month.

​Check back next week to see who we feature in our next #GalaxysGuide!

Imagine Dragons have announced a North American tour in support of their upcoming album, Evolve.

The alternative rock band unveiled the name and album artwork on their third LP on Twitter. Evolve is due June 23rd via KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records and will contain 11 songs. So far, the group has released three tracks from the album – “Believer,” “Thunder” and “Whatever it Takes.” “Believer” has held the #1 spot on alternative radio charts for the past six weeks.

The tour will start on September 26th in Phoenix, Arizona and conclude November 16th in Anaheim, California. Support will come from Grouplove and K. Flay on select dates.

Imagine Dragons latest, Smoke and Mirrors, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and has sold over a million copies worldwide. The band will perform at the Billboard Music Awards, which will air on May 21st on ABC.

With so many notable artists announcing tours, it’s important to stay up to date with the hottest shows of the summer. From country to hip-hop, and everything in between, we have you covered with ‘Galaxy’s Guide to Summer’. Each week we’re featuring tours that we think you need to check out.

First off we’re featuring country music’s new golden boy, Sam Hunt.

His debut album Montevallo spurred hits “Leave the Night On”, “House Party”, “Break Up in a Small Town”, “Make You Miss Me” and Hunt’s smash “Take Your Time”. The latter crossed over into pop and adult contemporary radio topping the country charts and peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2015 Sam Hunt was named New Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards and Hunt took home the hardware for Breakthrough Male of the Year at the 2016 ACM Awards. Montevallo won Digital Album of the Year at the ACMs that same year.

In 2015 Sam Hunt hit the road for his headlining “Lipstick Graffiti Tour” which featured 19 stops in total. Hunt performed at House of Blues peppered across the country as well as New York’s famed, Irving Plaza. This tour would merely get his feet wet as he set out on massive treks with both Lady Antebellum (2015) and Kenny Chesney (2016).​Now with the release of his second album on the horizon and a new catchy song for the summer, “Body Like a Back Road” Hunt is set to headline his second tour, 15 in a 30 featuring Marren Morris, Chris Janson and Ryan Follese. The tour is double the size of his previous headlining effort and has him stopping at open air pavilions across the country, perfect setting for seeing country music live on a summer night!

​Check back next week to see who we feature in our next #GalaxysGuide!

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